The Politics and Governance department of the Institute of Public Administration focuses on the complex interaction between politics and governance. Our research explores contemporary issues such as the impact of global crises, populism, and polarisation at various levels of government.

The bachelor's programmes at the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs, based in the city of international cooperation and politics – The Hague – prepare you for a future in governance, leadership, and diplomacy. In the administrative heart of the Netherlands, you will learn to tackle the challenges…

The bachelor's programmes at the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs, based in the city of international cooperation and politics – The Hague – prepare you for a future in governance, leadership, and diplomacy. In the administrative heart of the Netherlands, you will learn to tackle the challenges…

Are you thinking about studying European Politics and Society? Learn more and watch the programme presentation.

Study European politics, society, and international relations across four major European cities: Prague, Leiden, Krakow, and Barcelona. This two-year joint Master's programme offers a unique interdisciplinary experience.

What will it be like to study at Leiden University in 2075?

How are law and governance in China responding to rapidly changing circumstances, and what does that mean for the relationship between the state and its citizens?

The Indonesian Experience after the Fall of Suharto

Politics and Aesthetics is one of the six research themes of the LUCAS Modern and Contemporary cluster.

The Economics and Governance specialisation of the Master in Public Administration teaches you to formulate problem-solving approaches to concrete policy issues found at the intersection between economics and public administration, specifically focusing on welfare states and markets. This specialisation…

In this chapter, Kohei Suzuki aims to provide a brief overview of Japan’s local government system.

Welcome to Leiden University's Global Transformations and Governance Challenges (GTGC) programme! GTGC explores how innovative policies and governance arrangements can address global challenges in democratic, effective, fair, peaceful and sustainable ways.

Are you thinking about studying Philosophical Perspectives on Politics and the Economy? Learn more and watch the introduction video.

Are you thinking about studying Public Administration: Economics and Governance? Learn more and watch the videos.

Porosity between Politics and the Economy addresses the relationships between politics and the economy in deeply original ways. It is a book motivated by a sense of urgency aroused by both the failure of modern capitalism and the environmental crisis.

With regard to governance, policies and law, many Muslims and Muslim countries recognise the possibility that Islam has something important to say about the way society is to be ordered, governed, and regulated.

In countries with complex domestic situations, citizens have little opportunity to exercise influence on governance and policy. Leiden academics research these situations and share their insights with the public, such as in Nigeria for instance. This enables the people and their communities to improve…

In this paper, the authors study how individual and country-level variables interact in affecting political gender attitudes in Europe.

Proceedings of the Vth International Conference of Isis Studies, Boulogne-sur-Mer, October 13-15, 2011

The Center participates in East European Politics, one of the major political science journals focusing on the contemporary post-communist space.

Global Transformations and Governance Challenges (GTGC) at Leiden University aims to advance knowledge and practice on how we govern – and could govern – major world-scale changes in contemporary society. These global transformations include hegemonic and other geopolitical shifts, ecological changes,…

This book explores the spiritual potential of faith, mysticism and transcendence in answer to the dangers of a mythologised state and the sacro-sanctification of (liberal) democracy and its rule of law.

Study information, Student for a day

What political factors affect the speed or duration of EU legislative decision-making?

On 27 September 2017 a new book by Prof. Luuk van Middelaar appeared, entitled The new politics of Europe. The book is at the same time a front line account of Europe’s recent crisis years – from monetary turmoil to tensions around Ukraine, from refugee crisis to Brexit – and an analysis of the Union’s…

This master’s programme introduces the student to philosophical issues concerning the foundations of law, politics, and policy. This master’s programme is meant for students who wish to combine a master’s in Law, Political Science, Public Administration, or an adjacent discipline with master’s coursework…

Mayke Kaag has been appointed Professor of the Anthropology of Politics and Governance in Africa at the Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (CADS) on behalf of the African Studies Centre Leiden (ASCL).

On 30 January 2024 Jurre van der Meer successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

This edited volume suggests promising new avenues of research in analyzing coalition politics. Written by a group of leading scholars, the book clarifies a number of concepts too often taken for granted in the existing literature, performs theoretically-driven and methodologically novel comparative…

Political scientist Luzia Helfer (Leiden University) empirically tested claims about media-politics relatiopns using unique data from experimental studies with elected politicians and political journalists in Switzerland and the Netherlands.

Agriculture is among the most vulnerable sectors to climate change and poorer countries face the most severe difficulties. Coffee farmers in Central America, for instance, are facing multiple and mutually reinforcing crises, including price shocks, outbreaks of pests and diseases, migration, and farm…

East European Politics is a refereed journal which publishes articles on the government, politics and international relations of the post-communist world.

Introducing five papers about of the impact of crises on the governance, decision-making, and institutional design of the Euro Area, political scientists Valerie D'Erman (University of Victoria, Canada), Paul Schure (University of Victoria, Canada) and Amy Verdun (Leiden University) summarise the 'lessons…

Courses in English.

Muhammad Adlin Sila examines the range of ways Bima Muslims constitute their Islamic identities and agencies through rituals and festivals. In response to their surroundings, what it means to be a Muslim is constantly being negotiated.

This project will clarify how these concepts operated in theoretical writings on performance ,this broadened conceptual framework will not only give us a clear view on how sublime effects in performance were theorized, it will also provide us a concrete apparatus to understand the cultural and political…

The leading textbook on governance and politics in the Netherlands. The authors offer a clear and comprehensive account and have revised the text to provide full coverage of recent important developments.

No nation-state can solve today's global challenges on its own. In the specialisation International and European Governance you will obtain a deep understanding of the interplay between the international, EU, and (sub)national governance systems and how this interplay affects the capacity of public…

Civil service systems are often targets of criticism globally. This article seeks to fill an evidence void about government performance and meritocracy

How does governing work today, and how does society handle pressing challenges in ways that are democratic, effective, fair, peaceful, and sustainable?

In this paper, Sibgatullina and Abbas aim to illuminate the complex connections between the European right-wing movements and Islam and discusses how the adoption of Muslim identity may function as a politically strategic opportunity for European conservative forces.

The European courtroom as political arena? Judicial interference in politically charged issues in European asylum law and criminal law

How can we understand the encounter between communities active in sustainability initiatives and governmental agents at the multiple institutional layers in the Netherlands?

How do old and new Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) relate to new social and political movements in Central Africa? What does this tell us about Africa and the Information Age?

A large amount of the EU's used or wasted textile is exported towards lower-income countries. Much of this exported textile is either burned or dumped and the amount that is truly reused or recycled is uncertain.